Penn State drinking has been squeezed out of Greek life, but the bubble has hardly burst

Updated Nov 28, 2018; Posted Nov 26, 2018

While new rules and regulations on Penn State fraternities and sororities have reduced the amount of the drinking there, the numbers show that it has simply moved to other places on and off campus.

STATE COLLEGE — In a small conference room of the State College Police Department, Lt. Gregory Brauser gestured with his black pen to the statistics in front of him.

A number of what are typically alcohol-driven offenses — aggravated assault, simple assault, sexual assaults, possession, consumption, transportation, furnishing alcohol to minors, public drunkenness and noise complaints — were laid on the paper before him.

A little less than two years ago, shock waves rippled through this college town and beyond following the events of one night that occurred in the basement of a nearly 130-year-old fraternity:

Eighteen drinks consumed in 82 minutes during a hazing ritual.

A pledge, Timothy Piazza, who fell and became unconscious following Beta Theta Pi’s “gauntlet” drinking course.

Twelve hours before anyone called 911.

Piazza’s death.

Thirteen days after Piazza died, the university announced a sweeping freeze on all Greek life social activities and revoked Beta Theta Pi’s recognition. This short-term shutdown was followed swiftly by a late March 2017 announcement by the university of regulations on fraternities and sororities.

Penn State said it has since taken “aggressive new measures” to focus its Greek life community on safety. Some of these include taking control of the fraternity and sorority organizational misconduct processes, establishing a team of “university-hired monitors” to perform regular, unannounced spot checks of off-campus fraternity houses, according to the university.

But anyone who might have hoped that clamping down on fraternity and sorority parties would reduce underage or excessive drinking would be disappointed.

“What we found is that those numbers actually went up once the fraternities were completely shut down,” Brauser, a 20-year SCPD veteran, said recently. “And, looking at 2018’s numbers, now the fraternities are back in place but with more restrictions and more oversight on them there was no drastic change up or down.”

The changes there have been noticeable. A walk through State College’s Highlands area — “frat land” to many — would have proved a quiet trip this semester, with mostly dark or silent fraternity houses lining the streets. The university has even fallen out of The Princeton Review’s list of top 20 party schools for a second year in the row. It’s a list that had Penn State highly ranked for more than a decade.

But, Brauser said, the underage-drinking culture at Penn State is like a balloon.

“You see that the fraternities are a part of that balloon, so they squeezed on that and shut that up — but the balloon expands somewhere else,” he said.

The overall arrest data shows that from Feb. 1, 2014, through Feb. 28, 2015, there were 1,119 arrests for everything from assaults to public intoxication to selling/furnishing a minor. During a similar period from Feb. 1, 2017, to Feb. 28, 2018, the arrest total was 1,285. Focus strictly on the number of arrests for possession, consumption and transportation, and the bottom line shows little change over the past couple years: the total was 474 arrests during the 2014-15 period and 460 during the 2017-18 period, with a slight decrease during the couple of years in between.

Brauser said he was surprised at the spike in the numbers. His department saw an uptick in calls from other venues, including downtown apartments as well as complexes with outdoor pools.

"Large parties that didn’t exist when maybe a fraternity could have a party now they’re moving to a space that has the same capacity but maybe isn’t as ‘regulated,’” Brauser said.

Even though fraternities monitored themselves in a relatively unregulated fashion before, it was still better than that of an off-campus complex, he said.

The drinking culture at Penn State is apparent, from bars lining Beaver and College Avenue to the overflowing downtown apartments, but Greeks represent only a fraction of Penn State students.

Greek life, said Brauser, “doesn’t drive the culture. It’s just a portion of it.”

“There is no monitoring or risk management at apartments,” said James “JP” Brady, president of Penn State’s Interfraternity Council. “Fraternities must follow an approved risk management plan, adhere to occupancy laws, have a RAMP certified bartender, have a CPR-trained member present and have the Compliance Coordinators walk through the house [one or two] times per event.”

Lt. Gregory Brauser said underage and reckless drinking is seemingly inevitable in a college town. And the lieutenant said his goals must look more to 'make it safe and limit risks that go along with that kind of behavior' — often differing slightly from that of the university.PN

Brady, who became Interfraternity Council president in mid-October, portrays the changes of the past two years as positive ones for greek organizations.

“The fraternity presidents and risk managers really seem to have built good relationships with the Compliance Coordinators,” he said via email. “Naturally, there’s a learning curve on both sides. I think the relationship between fraternities and their compliance officers has continued to improve because of buy-in from both parties.”

The compliance coordinators, seven assigned to specific houses as of September, are just one of several changes. Others include deferred recruitment and the newly introduced Greek-life Scorecard that provides information on fraternities and sororities including membership, academic performance, conduct and standards of excellence.

The 2018 data includes violations identified by Penn State starting with the spring semester.

The most recent grades show no sexual assault violations for any Greek organization, and no hazing violations from 37 active IFC houses, according to the student affairs website.

There were several violations for alcohol and "other" infractions, and 14 houses were suspended in the 2018 report.

Twenty-two IFC houses had no violations, while the most violations for a single house was five. Additionally, two sororities had violations and two others were suspended.

“We’re very pleased with the progress made in the last year, and we hope to continue that progress in the year ahead,” Damon Sims, Penn State’s vice president for Student Affairs, said via email.

“The new members of our organizations are buying into the new culture ” Brady said. “The new measures put in place put in place by both the IFC and the University are helping accomplish that. They are the new normal.”

Brady, a member of the Acacia fraternity, also said that “potential new members, as well as the fraternities themselves, are just as eager to rush — if not more so.”

If success is defined as more regulation of Greek life, Penn State might appear to be making strides. But, the same does not appear to be resolving would could be seen as a larger problem of underage and binge drinking.

“I think it’s important to keep in mind that Greek life only makes up about 14 percent of the student population, roughly 5,500 students out of 40,000,” Brady said.

Brauser said underage and reckless drinking is seemingly inevitable in a college town.

And the lieutenant said his goals must look more to “make it safe and limit risks that go along with that kind of behavior” — often differing slightly from that of the university. Tasked with the “big picture,” Brauser said the department focuses on cracking down on those attempting to furnish alcohol to minors, perhaps leaking some air from the balloon, as well as public safety throughout State College.

But, as the former Beta Theta Pi house still sits hauntingly vacant on South Burrowes Street, everyone gets a reminder of why the university cracked down on Greek organizations.

“We also maintain a zero-tolerance rule for serious hazing, and violations result in the permanent revocation of recognition of any chapter,” a university statement read. “In short, we will not rest in our efforts, with the hope that this kind of tragedy never occurs again.”

Brauser said the university’s Greek-life Compliance Coordinators were in contact with the police department throughout the fall, meeting and making introductions.

“They’re going to be out,” Brauser said.

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